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Two bills under consideration would
provide renters protection and compensation

Updated 8:00 PM EDT, Thu, May 13, 2010

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite” is
easier said than done for many New Yorkers.

One state Assemblymember is pushing
legislation that would require landlords to divulge any
history of bedbug infestation to potential renters and
another that would offer compensation for expenses
accrued from dealing with infestations.

Linda B. Rosenthal, who represents
the Upper West Side and parts of Hell’s Kitchen,
introduced the two-bill legislation in mid-March as an
effort to combat New York’s growing bedbug problem.

“As the scourge of bedbugs continues
in New York, I am committed to giving my constituents
the tools to protect themselves both epidemiologically
and financially from this plague,” Rosenthal said in a
statement.

The first bill would require the
disclosure of any instance of bedbug infestation dating
back five years. A memo in the bill states that the
justification for the legislation is that “prospective
tenants have a right to access relevant documentation
regarding the history of bedbugs within their new living
spaces” because the information is essential to making
an informed decision.

“People who have gone through the
plague of bedbugs are happy that I’m trying to address
some the issues they’ve had to deal with -- people who
are long-time tenets who somehow get bedbugs or new
tenets who move in to discover an infestation and have
to deal with it,” Rosenthal told NBCNewYork.

After the bill was referred to the
housing committee, it was amended and recommitted on
April 20. The bill originally included the more
complicated issue of apartment sales as well, so was
amended to make the bill easier to pass. Rosenthal does
support the protection of homebuyers and seeks to
advance it in the future.

“Bedbugs are an enormous expense, and
there is no mechanism right now to get that money back,”
Rosenthal said. “I thought the state has responsibility
to try and deal with it in some way.”

The second bill provides a tax credit
of up to $750 to help with the cost of replacing
property lost due to bedbug infestations. This property
includes furniture, bedding, clothing, and any other
belonging discarded during the extermination process.
Since most renters or homeowners insurance does not
cover bedbug infestation, the bill seeks to assist
affected New Yorkers by offering a “modest tax credit.”

“If the state were in better
economic condition perhaps the tax credit could be
higher,” said Rosenthal. “But we’re in a precarious
economic state, so offering high tax credit was
impossible. We think what we came up with is more
feasible.”

However, it is not clear when the
two bills will be voted on in Albany.